Pursuit of MJ not about being greatest of all time but more for personal motivation, says LeBron

LeBron James said his chase of Michael Jordan is more of a personal goal to motivate the next generation of aspiring cagers. AP

BOSTON — LeBron James says his chase of Michael Jordan’s accomplishments is simply personal motivation. It’s not about wanting to establish himself as the NBA’s greatest player.

James spoke Thursday (Friday, Manila time) during the morning shootaround before the Cavaliers play the Boston Celtics in Game Five of the Eastern Conference finals.

If the Cavaliers advance, James would be making a seventh consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.

He said his goal is not about passing Jordan in titles, points or MVP awards. James is 28 points shy of overtaking Jordan as the postseason’s leading scorer. With 40 more points, James could also become the first player in NBA history to score 6,000 points in the playoffs.

But the Cavaliers superstar says his pursuit is about leaving a legacy to motivate the next generation of players.

“It’s just my personal goal to keep me motivated, that’s all,” James said. “You guys are gonna have the conversations about who’s the greatest of all time and things of that nature, it doesn’t matter to me.”

He also said he believes that the greatness conversation is discussed more often in the NBA than in other sports.

“It’s never talked about [in the] NFL, who’s the greatest quarterback. It’s just like [Dan] Marino, [John] Elway, [Peyton] Manning, [Tom] Brady — all great quarterbacks. It should be the same for us,” James said. “We go out and just try to be as great as we can be every night.

“The comparison of always trying to compare people, either living or still playing or not playing — I think it’s great for barbershops.”